What: The Boulder City Council will hear from Xcel Energy about how the utility can meet the city's "energy localization" goals in the future during an energy roundtable discussion, and council will discuss possible ballot measures for November's election during a study session.

When: The energy roundtable will run from 4 to 5:30 p.m., and the study session will start at 6 p.m. Both meetings are on Tuesday.

Flouride levels: In 1969, voters approved ballot language that obligates the city to add fluoride to drinking water at a concentration of "approximately one part of fluoride to one million parts water." The U.S. Department of Health and Human services is now proposing a new optimal concentration for fluoride of 0.7 parts per million.

Now, the recommended optimal level is a range from 0.7 parts per million to 1.2 parts per million. The City Council could put a measure on November's ballot that would reset the official city fluoride concentration to 0.7 parts per million. Instead, the City Council could decide that reducing the concentration of fluoride in the city's water to 0.7 parts per million is already within the authority granted by voters in 1969. (Staff does not support putting this measure on the ballot.)

Charter changes: The City Council's charter committee recommends putting the following charter changes on the ballot: clean up staff titles to reflect current employee roles; increase to the maximum fine for violating the charter from $100 to $1,000 to match the maximum fine for violating a city ordinance; eliminate the language "qualified voter" throughout charter and replace it with "registered voter" for consistency; provide contingency plans for the date that new council members will be sworn in; change election notice requirements to reflect the fact that city elections are now coordinated with the county; and change language to make it easier for the city to meet state and local election requirements.

Capital improvement bonds: The City Council could ask voters to approve $62 million in bonds, which would be paid back using unallocated revenue over the next 20 years. This measure would not ask for a tax increase, the bonds would be used to make improvements to roads, bridges, and multi-use paths, among other improvements. (Staff supports moving forward with this measure.)

Transportation maintenance fee: Last year, the City Council discussed the possibility of adding a transportation fee to utility bills. The revenue would be used to help cover some of the maintenance and transportation costs of the city's existing transportation system. While the City Council does not need voter approval to add the fee, council members have discussed the possibility of asking voters to advise them before moving forward. (Staff does not support putting this measure on the ballot.)

Sales tax renewal: The City Council could ask voters to renew an existing 0.25 percent sales tax that is set to expire in 2015. The tax is used to support the city's parks and recreation programs. (Staff recommends seeking renewal in a future year.)

New taxes or fees for capital improvements: The City Council could add a ballot measure that would add a sales tax or increase property taxes to pay for new capital improvement projects and their ongoing costs. (Staff recommends moving forward with an increase in 2012 instead of this year.)

Boulder staffers are recommending that the City Council ask voters for unlimited bonding authority in November if council members decide to move forward with creating a municipal electric utility.

Last summer, the City Council decided to let its 20-year franchise agreement with Xcel Energy expire. The fallout with the utility was largely over the amount of renewable energy that Xcel was willing to supply Boulder. City leaders and local activists wanted a higher percentage of their electricity to come from renewable sources, such as wind and solar, than Xcel is planning to provide its Colorado customers.

Now, the City Council is discussing whether a new agreement with Xcel -- one that includes more clean energy -- can still be negotiated or whether the city should start a municipal utility, which would require buying the infrastructure that Xcel now owns within city limits. Either way, the City Council will need to get permission from voters.

On Tuesday, the City Council will review possible ballot language for both scenarios.

"All options are still on the table," said Jonathan Koehn, regional sustainability coordinator for the city. "Staff feels it's important to get some of the ballot language out there so we can refine them and see where they fall short."

Waiting for Xcel's pitch

Whether the City Council decides to ask voters to approve a new franchise with Xcel will largely depend on what the utility has to offer. The City Council has asked Xcel to come up with a proposal for serving Boulder that will meet the council's official goal of providing customers with "access to reliable energy that is increasingly clean and competitively priced."

Xcel will present its pitch to the council Tuesday afternoon before the possible ballot issues are discussed. Xcel officials haven't elaborated on what they might offer the city, but have consistently said they want to continue serving Boulder customers.

"We're anxious to see how their proposal can meet our local goals and objectives," Koehn said.

Instead of putting a full franchise renewal on the ballot, the City Council could also ask voters to simply advise city leaders about whether they support a continued partnership with Xcel. But staffers are recommending against this option "because of the amount of effort that has gone into working on the study of municipalization and the efforts with Xcel Energy on creating a new form of partnership," according to a council memo.

Unlimited authority

If the City Council isn't satisfied with Xcel's pitch -- and if a business plan now being developed for municipalization looks reasonable -- council members could decide to move forward with creating a municipal utility. The costs of starting a utility, especially of buying the grid and other infrastructure now owned by Xcel, would likely be high.

A preliminary municipalization study completed for the city in 2005 by R.W. Beck estimates that infrastructure acquisition costs could be as high as $123 million, and that number was calculated before Xcel installed Boulder's smart grid. City contractors are now working on a more detailed cost analysis, but the exact cost of buying the local grid would likely be hammered out in a legal settlement between the utility and Boulder.

So city staffers are recommending that the City Council move forward with developing possible ballot language for a November measure that would grant unlimited "general bonding authority" to create an electric utility.

"Our existing utilities, like the water and sewer utilities, now have general bonding authority. It's not uncommon," said David Gehr, deputy city attorney.

Staffers point out, in a memo to the council, that placing a limit on the amount of bonds that may be sold could make it difficult for the city to negotiate over the value of the infrastructure now owned by Xcel.

"If we were to pursue a ballot measure that includes bonding authority, one of the challenges right now is that, until we get some of the detailed analyses and results from the consultant work, we don't know what a (bond) cap would look like," Koehn said.

Big numbers

Councilman Matt Appelbaum, who has not yet made a decision about whether the city should pursue municipalization, said he understands that unlimited bonding authority, or even a bond capped at a large amount, could be scary for voters.

"If we decide to go that route, all the numbers seem very big, even for Boulder," Appelbaum said. "We've done a lot of large bonds for open space and other things, but I don't know that we've ever done a bond for $150 million or whatever it's going to cost."

Even so, Appelbaum pointed out that bonds for a municipal utility -- which would be paid back through the revenue generated by the utility -- are different than bonds for open space or capital improvement projects, which are typically paid back through taxes. For example, the difference between two municipalization bond amounts that may differ by tens of millions of dollars may only work out to be a small change on a customer's utility bill, Appelbaum said.

"You have this range, and the range may seem awfully big -- plus or minus $20 (million) or $30 million," he said. "But you amortize that out over at least 20 years in a business that has revenues of up to $100 million a year, and the range of numbers that matter to people ends up being a tenth of a cent per kilowatt on your bill."

But before Appelbaum would vote to put general bonding authority on the ballot, he said he needs to see the forthcoming business plan.

"Voters will be skeptical. I would be skeptical too, and I intend to be skeptical on council," he said. "The business plan really has to be solid."

Another tax?

Both the city charter and the state constitution grant Boulder the authority to create a municipal utility without voter consent, though it's unlikely the city could create the utility without voter-approved bonding authority.

But a state statute requires voter approval for municipal acquisition of "electric light and power works and distribution systems" along with voter approval of bonds. Gehr said it's not clear that the state statute applies to Boulder, a home-rule city, or that it would trump the state constitution, but he is still recommending that the City Council ask voters expressly for the authority to create a municipal utility.

"It's not a difficult thing to comply with anyway, so you might as well put them both together," he said.

Staffers are also recommending that the City Council research the feasibility of a separate tax measure that would pay for the up-front cost of municipalizing, including lawyer fees and consultants. Staffers recommend that the tax measure be considered for the 2012 ballot.

Billionaires, entertainers and athletes alike announced their intentions to pursue the Los Angeles Clippers with varying degrees of seriousness Wednesday, proving the longtime losers will be quite a prize if the NBA is able to wrest control of the team away from Donald Sterling after his lifetime ban for racist remarks. Full Story

Louie, who (like Louis) is a New York comic and a divorced father of two daughters, knows struggle and angst and cloudy wonderment. He views life through eyes with a stricken look, dwelling in a state of comfortable dread. Full Story